Lung dragon

Lung dragons
Characteristics
Type	Dragon

The lung dragons (formerly known as Oriental dragons) are dragons found in the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

Publication history

The li lung, the lung wang, the pan lung, the shen lung, the t'ien lung, and the yu lung first appeared in Dragon #24 (April 1979). The li lung (earth dragon), the lung wang (sea dragon), the pan lung (coiled dragon), the shen lung (spirit dragon), the t'ien lung (celestial dragon), and the yu lung (carp dragon) appeared under the "Oriental dragon" heading in the original first edition Fiend Folio (1981).^[1] The pan lung (coiled dragon) also appeared in the module Dwellers of the Forbidden City (1981).^[2] The chiang lung (river dragon) and the tun mi lung (typhoon dragon) first appeared under the "Oriental dragon" heading in the original first edition Oriental Adventures book (1985).^[3]

The lung wang (sea dragon), the pan lung (coiled dragon), the shen lung (spirit dragon), the t'ien lung (celestial dragon), the tun mi lung (typhoon dragon), the yu lung (carp dragon), the chiang lung (river dragon), and the li lung (earth dragon) appeared in second edition for the Forgotten Realms setting under the "Oriental dragon" heading in the Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix (1989).^[4]

The chiang lung (river dragon), the li lung (earth dragon), the lung wang (sea dragon), the pan lung (coiled dragon), the shen lung (spirit dragon), the t'ien lung (celestial dragon), the tun mi lung (typhoon dragon), and the yu lung (carp dragon) appeared in third edition under the "lung dragon" heading in Oriental Adventures (2001).^[5]

Description

Lung dragons are based upon oriental (Chinese and Japanese) dragons as opposed to the western-based True Dragons, and appear in correspondingly themed settings such as Kara-Tur or Rokugan. Lung dragons are spirits that embody and empower aspects of nature rather than being normal, physical creatures. Most lung dragons don't have breath weapons, but possess instead a variety of spell-like abilities.

Yu lung (Carp dragon)

• Breath weapon: None
• Terrain: Warm land and underground
• Alignment: Usually Neutral

Chiang lung (River dragon)

• Breath weapon: Not any known
• Terrain: Warm aquatic
• Alignment: Usually Lawful Neutral

Li lung (Earth dragon)

• Breath weapon: None
• Terrain: Warm land and underground
• Alignment: Usually Neutral

Lung wang (Sea dragon)

• Breath weapon: Cone of steam
• Terrain: Temperate and warm aquatic
• Alignment: Usually Neutral

Pan lung (Coiled dragon)

• Breath weapon: None
• Terrain: Warm land and underground
• Alignment: Usually Lawful Neutral

Shen lung (Spirit dragon)

• Breath weapon: None
• Terrain: Warm land and underground
• Alignment: Usually Lawful Neutral

T'ien lung (Celestial dragon)

• Breath weapon: Cone of fire
• Terrain: Warm mountains
• Alignment: Usually Lawful Neutral

Tun mi lung (Typhoon dragon)

• Breath weapon: None
• Terrain: Warm aquatic
• Alignment: Usually Neutral Evil

References